2009 NSSA Nationals Final Day Wrap And Photos

Lakey Peterson took things above the lip and on rail on Saturday to steal the National title from Courtney. Photo: JackEnglish.com

Another NSSA Nationals week has come and gone as summer gets into full swing. This year the two coveted National titles – Open Mens and Open Womens – once again stayed in the Golden State. Kolohe Andino was on his game the entire week with on-rail and above the lip surfing, earning himself the biggest victory of his young career. If there was ever any doubt about the validity of all the claims and praises about Brother, he swept them all aside by snagging the Open Mens title at the ripe age of fifteen.

Lakey Peterson showed up big time in the Open Womens bout, as her first wave of a frontside air – which gave her a 9 – helped her muscle away the National title from the grips of a Courtney Conlogue repeat. Lakey showed that she means business and is not going to let Courtney dominate the ranks without a battle.

Here’s a few more notable mentions from this year’s Nationals:

- Ezekiel Lau finally got that National title (Open Juniors) that he’s been working so hard towards. His dad and him have had a bet that once Zeke wins a National title he can start growing his hair out again. Years deep in the bet, will Zeke be growing a Buttons-eske fro or will he be keeping that dome nice and shiny?

-Ian Gentil blew up at Nationals this year, taking home two titles – Open Boys and Explorer Menehune. The icing on the cake for him had to be the perfect heat he pulled in the Open Boys final, snagging two 10s like it was no big deal. Watch out for this kid in the years to come.

-Kauai’s Alex Smith threw down the move of the week in the Open Mens final when he busted a full 360 air reverse, stomping it out with authority. He’ll be heading back to the Islands with an Airshow 2nd place and an Open Mens 3rd.